Latest: Authorities release photo of suspect in ’73 killing

By The Associated Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Latest on a cold-case arrest in the killing of a girl in California (all times local):

7:20 p.m.

California authorities have released a decades-old photo of a suspect in the 1973 killing of an 11-year-old girl in the hopes of jogging the memory of potential witnesses.

Officials in Orange County said Thursday that the photo may depict what James Neal looked like around the time Linda O’Keefe was killed. They’re asking anyone who saw him around then to come forward. The photo shows a smiling Neal with bushy hair and a moustache.

The 72-year-old was in court in Colorado on Thursday. A judge scheduled a Feb. 28 hearing on his extradition.

Neal was arrested this week in Colorado Springs in the killing the girl in Newport Beach, California.

Linda was seen July 6, 1973, walking home from summer school, and her body was found the next day.

Authorities say Neal lived in Southern California in the 1970s.

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3:50 p.m.

A Colorado man arrested after DNA tied him to the 1973 killing of an 11-year-old California girl has yet to decide if he will fight extradition.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports 72-year-old James Neal, of Monument, nodded at his crying relatives as he was led into court for a brief appearance Thursday. A judge scheduled a Feb. 28 hearing, where Neal could say if he will fight extradition to California to face a murder charge.

Neal was arrested in Colorado Springs on Tuesday for investigation of killing 11-year-old Linda O’Keefe in Newport Beach, California.

Linda disappeared July 6, 1973. She was seen walking home from summer school, and her body was found the next day.

Authorities say Neal lived in Southern California in the 1970s.

The Associated Press

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